The Disney LegendsAwards is a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a special private ceremony; since 2009, it has been awarded biennially during Disney's D23 Expo.[1]

Recipients are chosen by a selection committee, formerly appointed and chaired by Disney Legend Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney's nephew, former vice chairman and director emeritus of The Walt Disney Company. The committee consists of long-time Disney executives, historians, and other authorities. Besides the award statuette itself, each honoree is represented by a bronze commemorative plaque featuring the recipients' handprints and signature if they were living when inducted, or simply an image of the statuette emblem if the induction was posthumous. The plaques are placed on display in Legends Plaza at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, across from the Michael D. Eisner Building. Legends also receive a Disney Golden Pass, a lifetime pass to all Disney theme parks.

Imagineer Andrea Favilli created the Disney Legends award, which is handcrafted from bronze each year. The award depicts the arm of Mickey Mouse holding a star-tipped wand.

Disney describes the award as follows:

The Disney Legends award has three distinct elements that characterize the contributions made by each talented recipient.The Spiral ... stands for imagination, the power of an idea.The Hand ... holds the gifts of skill, discipline and craftsmanship.The Wand and the Star ... represent magic: the spark that is ignited when imagination and skill combine to create a new dream.[2]

Note: There were two ceremonies this year: the first was held at the new Disney Legends Plaza at the Walt Disney Studio on October 16th to recognize 19 of the 21 recipients[107], and the second was held on October 22 at Disneyland Tokyo to recognize Takahashi and Yokoyama.[108]

John Hench

John Hench was an artist, designer and creative director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, also known as Tower of Terror, is an accelerated drop tower dark ride located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure Park. Except for the Tokyo DisneySea version, the attractions are inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and take place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. The Tokyo version, which features an original story line not related to The Twilight Zone, takes place in the fictional Hotel Hightower. All three versions place riders in a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator, and present the riders with a fictional backstory in which people have mysteriously disappeared from the elevator under the influence of some supernatural element many years previously.

Walt Disney Studios Park

Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, which opened on March 16, 2002. It is dedicated to show business, themed after movies, production, and behind-the-scenes. In 2017, the park hosted approximately 5.2 million guests, making it the third-most visited amusement park in Europe and the 22nd-most visited in the world. Its sister park is Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Walt Disney Imagineering

Disney Imagineering, some times just Imagineering or more fully Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. The company also manages The Walt Disney Company's properties, from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to New Amsterdam Theatre and Times Square Studios Ltd. in New York City. Founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland, it was originally known as Walt Disney, Inc. then WED Enterprises, from the initials meaning "Walter Elias Disney", the company co-founder's full name. Headquartered in Glendale, California, Imagineering was founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland. Imagineering is composed of "Imagineers", who are illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers.

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products

Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's four major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded in 1971, following the opening of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida.

Circle-Vision 360°

Circle-Vision 360° is a film technique, refined by The Walt Disney Company, that uses nine cameras for nine big screens arranged in a circle. The cameras are usually mounted on top of an automobile for scenes through cities and highways, while films such as The Timekeeper use a static camera and many CGI effects. The first film was America the Beautiful in the Circarama theater, which had 11 projectors using 16mm film. And would become Circle-Vision in 1967, which has 9 projectors using 35mm film.

Marty Sklar

Martin A. "Marty" Sklar was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs and constructs Disney theme parks and resorts across the world. He was formerly vice president of Concepts and Planning for the company, before being promoted to president, then vice chairman and principal creative executive before his final role. Disney honored him with a Disneyland window dedication ceremony on his date of retirement, July 17, 2009.

Toy Story Midway Mania!

Toy Story Mania! is an interactive 4-D theme park attraction, located at three Disney theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort and Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort.

Toon Studio

Toon Studio is a land at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, France.

D23 (Disney)

D23 is the official fan club for The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 2009, the organization is known mainly for its biennial exposition event, the D23 Expo. The name D23 refers to D for Disney and 23 for 1923—the year Walt Disney founded the company.

Captain EO

Captain EO is a 1986 American 3D science fiction film starring Michael Jackson, written by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1996. The attraction returned to the Disney Parks in 2010 as a tribute after Jackson's death. The film was shown for the final time at Epcot on December 6, 2015.

Pandora – The World of Avatar

Pandora – The World of Avatar is a themed area inspired by James Cameron's Avatar, located within Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Set a generation after the events of the Avatar films, the area is based upon the fictional exoplanetary moon, Pandora, and features Pandora's floating mountains, alien wildlife, and bioluminescent plants. Spanning 12 acres (4.9 ha), Pandora – The World of Avatar includes two major attractions, Avatar Flight of Passage and Na'vi River Journey, as well as retail and dining outlets.

Iron Man Experience

Iron Man Experience is a 3-D motion simulator attraction in Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened on 11 January 2017. The attraction is based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, becoming the first Disney attraction to be based on a Marvel property. Set at the fictional Stark Expo, the attraction features Tony Stark recruiting guests to fend off extraterrestrial beings that are attacking Hong Kong.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is an upcoming Star Wars-themed area being developed within Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It will encompass 14 acres (5.7 ha) at each park.

Tron Lightcycle Power Run

Tron Lightcycle Power Run is a semi-enclosed launched steel roller coaster attraction at Shanghai Disneyland Park, and an upcoming attraction at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Based on the Tron series, the attraction takes guests on a ride through the Grid on their own light cycle.

Disney’s Riviera Resort

Disney’s Riviera Resort is an upcoming Disney Vacation Club resort at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is being built by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. It will be the first newly-constructed resort on the new Disney Skyliner gondola system and the 15th Disney Vacation Club property to be built. It is scheduled to open December 16, 2019.